Socioeconomic, Environmental and Institutional Factors Associated with Farmers’ Perception of Climate Change Effects among Maize Farmers in Northwest Nigeria
The study examined the socioeconomic, environmental and institutional factors associated with farmers’ perception of climate change effects among maize farmers in Northwest Nigeria. Specifically, the study described the socioeconomic, environmental and institutional characteristics of maize farmers, assessed their perception of climate change effects on maize production, and determined the factors associated with such perception. A field survey was conducted among 380 maize farmers selected from Kaduna, Kano and Katsina States using a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire and personal interviews and analysed using frequency counts, percentages, means, standard deviations, Composite Perception Index (CPI) and Tobit regression. The results showed that the farmers had a mean age of 37.20 years, mean household size of 9.00 persons, mean farming experience of 14.30 years and mean farm size of 1.46 ha. Environmental pressures reported by the farmers included drought (86.8%), pest and disease prevalence (82.1%), soil erosion (79.2%), deforestation (76.1%) and overgrazing (65.0%). Cooperative membership was reported by 57.6% of the farmers, while 67.1% had access to credit and only 20.5% had extension contact. Farmers had a high perception of climate change effects, with a CPI of 4.15. The Tobit regression model was statistically significant (LR χ² = 186.42, p < 0.01; pseudo R² = 0.184). Age, education, household size, farm size, income, environmental pressures, extension contact, cooperative membership and credit obtained were significantly associated with perception, while sex was not significant. The study concluded that farmers’ perception was associated with socioeconomic, environmental and institutional characteristics, highlighting the need for targeted extension and climate-information interventions
Keywords: Climate change perception; Maize farmers; Agricultural extension; Environmental factors; Institutional factors
